Gemstones – the rest of the agates in my “collection”

Oh my goodness – it wasn’t until I gathered all the agates to photograph them that I realized: I have A LOT of agates. Time to stop buying and start making!! Although I will say, in my defense, when you see a stone that speaks to you you need to pick it up since each stone is unique. You can’t assume it’ll still be there when you are ready to use it in a design!

So here is the line up:

Crazy lace agate cabacons. Look at those colors! Aren't they great - you may recognize the stunner on the right as one of the stones I bought recently (see Oct. 2 blog).Moss agates. I also have moss agate beads, 'cause I love this agate second only to the plume agates! This is a great semi-transluscent stone!This is the moss agate that is on the upper left of the group - when you hold it up to the light this is what you see!Turritella agate - isn't this pair cute! I bought these at the SNAG conference in Seattle. This agate is made up of fossilized marine gastropods (aka snails) which have spiral shells.Two little red agates, with a red banded agate. The larger agate is, in my opinion, the more "classic" agate that people think of when they think of agates! Which is all of the time, isn't it?Montana agates. I know, not the prettiest display but I have to store all of these rocks and so, these ones remain on the cards I bought them on. I like these ones, pretty in a more subtle way.Dendritic agates. My current favorite is the middle left one. Fabrege was a fan of this type of agate and he used them in his pieces along side diamonds and other gemstones.Blue lace agate. I had these stored away in different drawers, and apparently hadn't looked at them side by side before - so I was surprised to see the banding is oriented in opposite directions! These are a nice subtle blue.I did manage to use another blue lace agate in a design! A mythical bird atop it's nest!

I see I only have designs for two (!) of these stones in my sketchbook. I’m feeling the pressure!!